RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 83, 29 July 1997

HUNGARY CRITICIZES SLOVAK RELUCTANCE TO SIGN MILITARY
COOPERATION ACCORDS. Hungarian Defense Minister Gyoergy Keleti
said the texts of two agreements on cooperation between the
Hungarian and Slovak armies are ready but that Hungary "has been
waiting two years for the Slovak party to sign them," according to
"Magyar Nemzet" on 29 July, citing Keleti's interview with the
Bratislava daily "Narodna Obroda". The treaties cover air space and
information exchange between the two defense ministries.
Commenting on the development of Slovak-Hungarian relations now
that Hungary has been invited to NATO accession talks, Keleti said it
is in nobody's interest to isolate Slovakia.

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

FLOODS IN ROMANIA, MOLDOVA. One person is reported dead in the
Vaslui area, in the eastern Romanian province of Moldavia, and
hundreds had to be evacuated after swollen rivers flooded several
regions in the country, RFE/RL's correspondents reported. The
hardest-hit areas are the western region of Banat, the Crisana region
near the border with Hungary, central Transylvania, and the eastern
regions of Moldavia. The Ministry of the Environment announced
that 1,000 hectares of farmland are under water. But government
officials said this year's grain harvest will not be affected. In the
neighboring Moldovan Republic, floods, hail storms, and strong winds
have caused the death of nine persons this month, three of whom are
children, BASA-press reported. Damage is estimated at 198 million
lei ($43 million).

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